Diplomacy 101: Answer Dumb Questions

Handle communications with seemingly lazy or
dimwitted bidders.

No matter what you do, you’ll never get all your bidders to read
your auction descriptions, shipping terms, or payment instructions as
carefully as you’d like them to, if at all. As a result, you’ll
occasionally get a bidder who looks at an auction entitled “Antique
Royal Blue Vase,” sees the large photo of a royal blue vase, and then
writes you to ask what color the vase is.

OK, it’s not usually that bad, but sometimes it seems like it is.
The first thing to remember is how easy it can be to miss even the most
obvious piece of information. Instead of antagonizing your bidder with
the all-too-familiar, “It’s blue, like it says in the description,” try
one of the following: